The End Before The Beginning
by ViennaRoseMelancholia
Summary: Verity's world is changing forever. She has to leave her school and friends and start over in a new town. Her mother doesn't seem to want her to exist anymore and her new stepfather never did. Just as she starts to settle into her new life, strange things start happening to her. Why does her skin burn and itch? And what does that creepy guy have to do it? {Original Characters.}
1. Chapter 1

Hello there! This is all original story and original characters. (some do have supernatural powers later though) This was a scene I had to delete from the book I'm writing as I had to rewrite the beginning and it no longer fit into the story. I've changed names and few other things, but I didn't want it to just disappear forever so I thought I'd put it on here and see what feedback I get. I hope you enjoy.  
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So this was it, the end of her last day at this school, with these friends. Verity sighed and walked out the school gate for the final time. Next year she would start going to the high school in Point Compass, where her family was moving to. She'd been heartbroken when her mother told her; she was going to miss her senior year with all her friends and there wasn't anything she could do to change it.  
_They couldn't even wait one more year._  
Verity loved her mother; it was her soon to be stepfather who was the problem. He didn't like the fact that Verity existed and made her mother ashamed of her, and what was worse, she was starting to believe it. She was starting to act like she regretted keeping her; that because she was only sixteen when she'd had Verity, she had missed out on the perfect life she deserved. And now she wanted to fix that. So they both pretended she didn't exist.

The next few months passed all too quickly, the wedding was only a small affair and full of old stuck up people. Verity had expected to be the maid of honour and had even convinced her mother against the frightful sunset orange dresses and selected a more flattering pale blue for the bridesmaids. But much to her shock, her mother chose one of her pretentious new friends for the coveted role. Her mother had grown incredibly fake and had constructed herself the very life she wanted, but Verity was a blemish in that perfection and wasn't even allowed in the bridal party. It was as if her mother had decided a teenage daughter didn't fit into her new fairy tale life and was hiding her from all her new fake friends. Verity sat begrudgingly in the last pew and watched the ceremony with a sour look on her face. No one fainted, much to her dismay and she waited for those words, her opportunity to speak her mind.  
Her mother had shunned her because of the people in this room; the people the man beside her thought were too good for her. She needed to have this revenge. Her mother deserved to be humiliated, to have her perfect day ruined.  
Verity clenched her teeth and stared at the chubby celebrant, his balding head shiny under the church lights.  
"If anyone can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."  
Verity shifted in her seat and bowed her head, scrunching her black satin dress in her sweaty hands till her knuckles turned white. This was her time.  
She didn't move.  
_Even if she deserves it, I'm not that much of a bitch. I'm not going to be that bitter. I won't let her affect my life that way._  
She kept her head down for the rest of the ceremony; silently reciting lyrics from her favourite songs to pacify herself. The whole thing was rather dreary and by the time they'd finished with all the photos, which she wasn't in, she had been ready to go home. The reception was in a ballroom in a posh hotel; white chair covers with gold sashes decorated the chairs and the centrepieces were large gold candelabra with floral arrangements perched at the top among the candles. Verity thought all the gold looked garish and tacky and secretly prayed the candles set fire to the flowers.  
Almost no one in the room knew who she was; her mother hadn't invited many of her family or old friends, just all her new ones. She found everyone who talked to her treated her like she was seven years old and asked her trivial things about her school and future career. Verity never wanted to hear the phrase "That's nice." ever again. She rolled her eyes as she watched a greying woman in a hideous red ensemble waddle over to her.  
_Here we go again._  
"Hello dear, what's your name?" asked the woman. Verity noted she smelled like cat piss, or her expensive perfume she likely bought for way too much in Paris smelt like cat piss. Verity smiled and with a deadly serious face answered the woman's question.  
"Rapunzel Elanora D'Winter."  
She watched with glee as the woman tried to skip over that without being rude.  
"And who do you belong to?"  
_Belong to? Like I'm a car, or a piece of furniture._  
Given the way her mother had been treating her lately, she thought she might start thinking she was a piece of the furniture.  
"That's my mum." Verity pointed to a blonde bridesmaid, whose name she didn't even know.  
"Where do you go to school?"  
"I'm home schooled, mum's really alternative, she likes me to be able to stop for yoga and to commune with the tree spirits whenever I like."  
Verity could see the old bat was doubting her every word now, but it was still amusing.  
"What are you planning on doing after school?" The woman raised an eyebrow.  
"I'm moving to Wisconsin to farm potatoes."  
That did it. The woman shook her head and muttered to herself as she moved on to talk to someone who wasn't making everything up.  
_That will be hard, there's more fake in this room than there was in my Barbie dream house!_  
As the night wore on, the formality of the event gave way to drunkenness and embarrassing behaviour. She could hear a couple of people locked in a cubical when she went to the bathroom and shuddered to think what they were up to in there. She had taken to watching the people make fools of themselves with an amused smile and enjoying the fact she wouldn't be nursing a hangover the next day.

Her mother and Brent left shortly after for their honeymoon in the cliché destination of Tahiti. Verity had assured them she would be fine by herself and she had. Brent's sister Danielle had come to check she hadn't set fire to the place a few times. She was a tall woman with brown hair and eyes, who had also inherited her brother's sharp and unkind features, her long curved nose made her look like a canary. She acted like checking on a teenage girl's safety was a great inconvenience and might even ruin her day completely.

* ( *

New Year's Eve felt like the closing of a door for Verity; saying the last goodbye to her old life. A bunch of the kids in her grade had planned a party which was unfortunately at her ex-boyfriend Jake Caldwell's house. It would be awkward but she still wanted to go. She didn't want to play happy families. So she rebelled.  
She left a note and snuck out the back door of the house. Tonight she didn't care if she got into trouble; she was being punished either way. On the street a yellow commodore was waiting, its engine purring. She opened the back door and slid into the backseat next to Cara who flashed her a smile.  
"Hey." Verity said in greeting  
"Looking sexy tonight babe." Melissa giggled from the front; her boyfriend Tom had his arm on her thigh. He was sleazy, but Verity needed a ride so she had decided to put up with him.  
When they arrived it was obvious many of the teenagers had started drinking pretty early and there were already some barely conscious individuals. Melissa pulled out a bottle of Passion Pop and raided the kitchen for some glasses.  
"Let us begin our under-age drinking in style." She announced as she pulled out three champagne glasses. Verity skulled half her glass, eager to start feeling its affects; she had too much to worry about in the coming weeks and needed to forget for a while. It was only a few minutes before her head started to feel out of sorts. She wasn't normal affected much by alcohol, but champagne went straight to her head. She headed over to dance with Cara and a few of her other friends. Rebecca was swaying unsteadily in some guys arms. He was taller and broader than most of the guys around with black hair and a 5o'clock shadow. Verity wondered where she had picked him up from; he looked too old to go to high school. He eyed her up and down and Verity wished she hadn't picked the silver club dress to wear, she suddenly felt very exposed and this guy was plain creepy. She edged her way through the people and into the lounge room, but Jake was there and she was keen to avoid him so she kept going down the hallway and found the bathroom. One thing she hated about alcohol was how often it made her need to pee. When she came back out into the kitchen for another drink Cara almost knocked her over. She was more than a little dishevelled and Verity guessed she had been hitting the drinks pretty hard.  
"Come on, we're going swimming!" She pulled Verity by the arm through the sliding door to the patio.  
"What? We don't have any bathers!"  
"Just jump in as you are." She slurred. Verity couldn't imagine her mum and stepdad being too pleased with her arriving home soaking wet. Not that they would be pleased with her being out at all. She wondered why she cared what they thought; sometimes she was too much of a good girl. The pool was modern with black tiles that made the water look murky and toxic. It was oddly alluring, really alluring.  
_Screw it. To hell with them!_  
She threw her bag on a chair, kicked off her heels and jumped in. The water was instantly soothing; it quelled her fears and left her feeling fresh. She came up for air and found Cara flailing about next to her, her blonde hair plastered to her head, mascara running down her cheeks. She was wrestling a blow up crocodile ferociously. Several other people splashed around in various states of drunkenness. Someone had thrown an inflatable doll in the pool and a blonde guy who'd been in her math class had just grabbed it.  
"She's my friend!" He announced. "Cara, Verity have you met my friend Lizzie?" He slurred.  
"She'd very nice Todd; you two make a lovely couple." Cara giggled.  
"No, she's not my girlfriend, my girlfriend's over there." He pointed to a scantily clad girl with peroxide blonde hair who was sitting on the side of the pool.  
"Well I am glad you made a friend." Verity smiled.  
"TEN!" Someone yelled from behind them.  
"Nine." more people joined in.  
"Everyone count down!" someone was annoyed at the lack of response.  
"Eight."  
"Shut up!"  
"Seven."  
"SEX!" someone screamed, drowning out the others.  
"Five."  
"Four!"  
"Three."  
"In a tree!"  
"Two."  
"One."  
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"  
Everyone erupted into applause and cheering.  
"Happy new year Verity." Cara told her.  
"Back at ya Car."  
It didn't seem like it would be a happy year, in fact the only people at the party who were less excited than her were the paralytic guys passed out by the door.  
Cara waved the crocodile's leg at her, she was fairly groggy and Verity began to worry about her friend's safety.  
"I think we better get you home." Verity pushed her to the steps and helped her out of the pool, she grabbed their shoes and purses and led her friend inside to the laundry. Stealing a couple of towels out of the cupboard, Verity dried them off as much as possible and wiped the mascara from their cheeks  
"Hey where is Melissa and Scumbucket?" Cara asked. Verity frowned, she hadn't seen them in a while. She pulled out her phone and tried ringing her number. It went straight to voicemail.  
"She must have gone off with him. I'm sure we'll hear all the details later Cara. Come on." Verity dragged her down the hallway and out to the street, Cara stumbling along the garden path. Verity used the last of the money in her purse for a taxi and it wasn't long before she stood outside her house, awaiting the impending doom. The lounge light was on and as soon as the opened the door her mother was in the hallway and starring down at her with eyes that could freeze hell.  
"Where have you been?! Do you have any idea how worried we've been? Are you trying to cause trouble for us? How could you go out without telling us? What are you wearing? " she spouted like a fountain, without any gaps for Verity answer the questions.  
"I just wanted to go out with my friends."  
"Why are you wet? What happened?" Verity thought about that answer.  
"Someone pushed me in the pool." She lied.  
"Get upstairs out of your wet things." She ducked round her mother and walked towards the bathroom.  
"And you're grounded with no allowance!" She hissed.  
"Not like I was going to go anywhere anyway!" She yelled.  
No, there wasn't much they could do to punish her that would be worse than what they were already doing.

* ( *

What did you think? Please leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you. 3


	2. Chapter 2

Hello hello!  
I wasn't going to write any more on this as it was, as I said, just a piece I had to remove from the book I'm writing, however I have done some more just for RaeDawnxx because she asked.

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* ( *

Verity pulled on a yellow and white striped tank top and squeezed into black skinny jeans. She strapped on her red platform heels. At 5.9" she didn't need any extra height, and being as clumsy as she was, they really weren't a good idea for her large feet. But they had called out to her in the shop and she just had to get them. She might be risking a twisted ankle, but at least she would feel great.  
Right now, she needed all the help she could get.

Point Compass was a small town and only had the one High school. It was appropriate, if unoriginally named Point Compass High. Verity found her way to her assigned home room and found an empty seat. Around her the other students chatted and caught up on holiday gossip. Everyone gave her a significant glance and a couple of girls even introduced themselves, but it didn't look like anyone was lining up to show her around. With the aid of the map she found in her diary, she managed to get to all her morning classes without much trouble, after that, not so much. She was half way to Algebra class when both her legs cramped painfully. The tip of her shoe caught the ground and she stumbled. She tried to right herself, but her feet felt heavy, like she couldn't move them properly. She fell hard into the asphalt, scraping her knees and her palms. She'd let go of her books to throw her hands out and they lay scattered around her. She sat to the side and brushed the gravel from her grazed knees, wincing at the stinging broken skin. Her hand came away covered in dirt and smudged with red.  
_Shit.  
_The blood oozed down her legs as she sat gapping at her knees trying to remember where the nearest bathroom was. Verity pushed herself up, staggering to her feet. All that leg made her resemble a newborn foal, uncoordinated and spindly and she felt she was about to go down again when a strong muscular arm steadied her.  
"Whoa! Not every day I get girls throwing themselves at me. It's my lucky day." The voice was male, syrupy and smooth and made Verity snap her head up quickly to find its owner. He was taller than her, easily over 6.3", with broad shoulders he hunched over, making him quite imposing and a little bit awkward. His bright blue eyes caught her attention, so much so, at first she didn't even notice his plain face, the crooked nose or the scar down his cheek.  
_Not gorgeous, not even close, but god those eyes!_  
"Thanks." she said. He gave her a warm smile and ran a hand through his golden sun-bleached hair.  
"When I recognised a fellow uncoordinated soul in strife, I just had to help. I needed a heroic moment. Don't get many opportunities to showcase my chivalry here, most of the girls run away from me." He bent down and collected her books from the ground.  
"Why, what did you do?" Her eyebrows furrowed.  
He stood up and offered the books too her. "I'm the big bad wolf." he said, staring intently at her.  
She raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
"Or just a scary looking guy who doesn't talk much so everyone thinks is creepy." He shrugged.  
"Excellent, mum will be pleased I'm making such _nice_ friends, just like she instructed." Verity said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. "Can you point me to a bathroom?"  
"This way." He started walking back towards the science building and motioned for her to follow. "The word nice isn't usually associated with me. -Incorrectly if I might add, I am actually a fairly decent person."  
"So I see." She smiled. "You've said more to me than anyone else."  
"People just see what they see and make assumptions. You for example, might be keeping people away with that angry look you're wearing."  
Verity was taken aback. "I'm not angry!" she gasped.  
"You look angry."  
"That's just my face! I always look like this."  
"My point." he stopped and pointed to a door a few metres away. "Bathroom's just there."  
"Thanks."  
"Don't mention it. No really, you'll ruin my creepy loner image." He shot her a wicked smile.  
"The one you worked so hard for?" she put a hand over her heart in mock concern.  
He held his hands up in defence. "Hey, you've got to work with what you've got."  
"So I should embrace being the lanky angry girl?"  
"Yes, but as much as I like calling you the lanky angry girl, I'd prefer to have a name." he waited eagerly for her to answer.  
"I'm Verity."  
"Nice to meet you Verity." He gave her a little salute and turned to leave.  
"Hey! You didn't tell me your name." she called out.  
"They call me the Undertaker." He said coldly without looking back. She watched him walk away, her mouth hanging open.  
_Why would they do that?_  
She had just enough time to be shocked, repulsed and a little fearful before he spun on his heel to face her.  
"But you can call me Rhys." He smiled and gave her a wink.

* ( *

Verity sat in the shadow cast by a shady tree, the cool grass tickling her long legs. Opposite her sat a plump girl with auburn hair, which fell around her shoulders in messy waves. Her eyes were cast down into the pages of a book, deeply enthralled in its contents. Mari had befriended Verity on her second day and Verity had awkwardly invited herself to sit with her at lunch. No one else seemed interested and the bookworm of a girl was severely lacking in her own company. Though that was probably something to do with the fact she carried a book around the school with her reading and amazingly never bumped into anything. Verity ate her lunch in silence, not wanting to interrupt her only ...semi friend? Acquaintance?  
_Person to sit with so I'm not a complete loner._  
She was starting to wonder just how angry her face really was. Maybe she should get a mask? Some sunglasses to hide her furrowed brow?  
She cast her gaze around the yard, watching some kids with a soccer ball and the group of girls who had just started yelling at them for kicking it into one of their heads. The girl in question sat on the ground rubbing her temple and giving them death glares. Verity noticed a familiar guy sitting on the cement edge of a raised garden bed. Rhys was systematically shredding the leaves of off the bush behind him one at a time.  
Verity dared to break the code of library silence and cleared her throat in a very clichéd attempt at getting Mari's attention.  
"Hey Mari, do you know that guy?" she tilted her head in his direction. Mari stole a quick glance over her shoulder.  
"The Undertaker." She said flatly.  
"Yeah, but he told me his name's Rhys."  
"Oh it is, but everyone calls him Undertaker."  
"Why?"  
"I think it's something to do with his last name being Underwood and him being a fucking creepy-arsed weirdo, who is probably responsible for all the gang related violence in Point Compass."  
Verity frowned. "I didn't hear anything about gang violence."  
"Oh, that would be because there isn't any. But doesn't he look like he belongs in a gang?"  
"I guess, but that's a kind of shallow way to look at things."  
_People probably think you're boring and spend all day eating cake Mari, doesn't mean it's true._  
She'd only been here a few days and was already sick of this school and its judgements. Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups and seeing the rate of stereotypical and superficial assessment here, it was going to be a pretty fucked up place.  
"You should stay away from him." Mari continued. "Nobody likes him."  
_You can talk._  
"Well he was nice to me, so I don't mind."  
"He's dangerous, the rumours started somewhere, Verity. He got expelled from his last school for beating some girl and her boyfriend up."  
_That's… disturbing._  
She wouldn't take Mari's word for it though. She would be cautious, but she made her own decisions about other people. Rhys was nice to her and until she saw with her own eyes, reason not to, she would be nice back. She watched him let a handful of leaves fall from his hand. They fluttered to the ground, twisting in the air before landing on the concrete. He lifted his head and his eyes met hers, sending a shiver down her spine.

* ( *


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE! I do wonder how many people are actually reading this, as far as I know it could only be the two subscribed to it. If you're reading this, let me know!  
* ( * - this is meant to be stars and a cresent moon by the way. I don't know if that's what people think of when they see it. I guess it could be a starry-eyed stoner without a mouth.

Anyway enjoy Verity's pain and suffering:

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* ( *

Verity pulled hard on the handrail of the sailboard. The sail was floating on the surface and every time she picked it up the water pooled in it making it twice as heavy to lift. It wasn't so much the weight of the thing that made it difficult, it wasn't that heavy. But having to bend over and counter the weight while standing on a surfboard wasn't an easy task for someone with her balance issues. She managed to haul the sail out of the water only to have the wind catch it and before she could stop it, it went past vertical and fell over the other side of the board, falling on top of her and pushing her into the water. She surfaced next to her board and held on to it to keep her afloat. Verity watched the other beginners fumble around, occasionally one would fall off, but unlike her, most of them seemed to be getting the hang of it.  
_I think it's time to quit.  
_The local surf club ran weekend classes in various water sports. In hindsight, windsurfing probably wasn't the best choice Verity could have made.  
_Upper body strength isn't my forte. Maybe they have a class in "sitting in the water." That I can do._  
She padded her board to shore and dragged it onto the beach. She made sure her instructor saw that she had left the water before collecting her towel and bag from where she left them on the sand and headed for a walk down the long stretch of coast. Despite the ache in her arms from her fail-sailing, she felt a yearning to go back in the ocean. She ditched her stuff on the shore and splashed into the azure shallows. Diving under the surf and scooping through the sea till she surfaced in the deeper sapphire water. This was better than being out here with that stupid board. Nothing to hold her back, keep her from the cool caress of the ocean. Smothering and powerful, beautiful and all consuming, the sea was like a living being, calm and serene, yet aggressive and able to strike out like a snake. Verity had always felt at peace at the beach. As soon as she'd been able to drive, it was where she went to escape the stresses of her life. Just her and the sea, ebb and flow.  
"OWW! FUCK!"  
Verity was jolted by a cramp running down her legs. It was as if a lightning bolt had hit her thighs and the painful electric current surged south towards her ankles. Her muscles locked in a painful spasm and she clenched her fingers, gasping.  
"Jesus, ouch, ouch dammit!"  
She had been getting cramps in her legs for the past month. "Growing pains" was what the doctor called it. They had been getting more frequent and more severe. Culminating in the horrendous pain she'd felt the past two days.  
Verity struggled towards the shore, without her legs to help, she had to move her arms more to keep her head above the water; her legs were like a dead weight.  
_A very painful dead weight  
_Her hands hit sand and she dragged herself into the shallows, lugging her currently useless legs behind her. She rolled over and sat on the bottom of the ankle deep water, gritting her teeth. Her legs were still stiff and unmoveable and she rubbed her hands up and down them, trying to loosen the muscles. She was surprised by how warm they felt, despite the cold water, it was like they were burning. Finally they un-cramped themselves and she exhaled with relief. She didn't feel up to standing just yet, but she gave them a kick to shake the last of the cramp out. Verity frowned at the strange numbness in her feet. The frown deepened as she watched the muscles in her legs shiver.  
_There is something very wrong with me._  
She staggered to her feet and stumbled to her belongings.

* ( *

Verity hugged her Biology books to her chest and bumped through the throng of teenage bodies that crammed through the covered walkway. Many more people and the effect would be similar to a meat grinder. Verity saw an opening and leaped sideways, detouring across a grassed quadrangle. It would cost her time, but she would arrive intact.  
_I would like to keep my arms and legs today thank you._  
She rounded the corner of the humanities building, which she thought she could go around and meet up with the science labs on the other side.  
She thought wrong.  
Instead she was near the front of the school, the admin building blocking her way to the labs. A row of short shrubs lined the side of the buildings and more raised cement flower beds created a fence-like enclosure of the grassed area. A few students stood around starring at the fountain in the centre of the garden.  
And at the boy sitting in it.  
_What….the hell._  
Verity blinked a few times in disbelief, and slowly walked towards the white fountain and its occupant. It was traditional looking with a single patterned spire which spouted water around it into a pool at its base.  
"Do you require assistance?" Verity asked, drawing the boy's vivid blue eyes to her own.  
"I'm good. A little embarrassed, but comfortable." Rhys said casually and gave her a warm smile.  
"And you're in the fountain because?"  
"Just seemed like the thing to do."  
"Well I've got to get to class, you have fun now."  
"Yeah, I guess I should get out of here before a teacher catches me." He gave her a sheepish grin and climbed out of the fountain.  
"Sure you don't need more bad boy points?" Verity questioned.  
"Um….no. I can do without detention." His pants made sloshing noises as he stepped onto the cement beside her and picked up his shoes from the concrete. "And so can you, so off you toodle, before you miss…." He leaned sideways and cocked his head to read her books. "Biology. Urgh, have fun with that." He gave her a knowing glance and walked away, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind.  
_Well that was…odd.  
_She jogged the rest of the way to Bio, not sure on how strict they were on tardiness here at Point Compass High.

* ( *

"VE-RI-TY!"  
The scream could only belong to one person. Verity sighed and put down her pencil. She walked down the hallway into the kitchen where one very pissed looking woman stood with her hands on her hips.  
"Hi mum."  
"You were supposed to clean the house when you got home." Was her only response.  
"I know, but I wanted to do my homework before I got too tired. There are parts of math that weren't covered at my old school, so I'm already behind. I promise I'll clean after I finish, I'm almost done now." She explained.  
"Don't you dare turn on the vacuum, I'm watching the TV." Brent called out from the living room.  
_Of course not, I would never want to interrupt the highly educational Two and a half men.  
_"You'll have to do it tomorrow." Her mother glared at her.  
"Had every intention of doing it." Verity began.  
"Don't be smart." Her mother spat.  
"Don't speak to your mother like that." Added Brent in a nasty tone.  
"I..."  
"Shut your mouth Verity. Don't talk back!" he cut her off. Verity rolled her eyes and walked away.  
_So I'm invisible till they need me as a maid. Brilliant.  
_She walked straight past her bedroom and out the back door. Once outside she ran across the yard and onto the street. Her bare feet pounded the footpath as she ran towards the sea. In her thoughtlessness she had left the house without shoes and the cement was now digging into her skin. It was a relief to hit the sand, which swallowed her aching feet, slowing her to a long striding walk down to the tide line.  
The water was a dark indigo in the fading light, like a giant ink pot. She felt a shiver ripple through her body. She wanted to go for a swim.  
_Don't be stupid._  
It was cold and getting dark. She shook her head, but the urge to jump in didn't fade. The more she looked at the water the greater the desire to slip beneath its dark surface.  
This late there were only a few people on the entire beach, late night joggers and people walking their dogs. She bit her lip. No one was close, they couldn't see clearly. She pulled her shirt off and slid her legs out of her pants quickly before bolting for the water in her underwear. The rush when she splashed into the sea was like adrenalin flowing through her veins. She dove under the water, into the blackness. The bubbles kissing her skin, the freezing water cleansing her, washing away her problems.  
_AHHHHHHH! Not now!_  
Except _that_ problem.  
The troublesome cramp in her legs had returned. Yet again it rendered them useless and she tried to fight her way to the surface for air. Instead she was sinking, even with her arms thrashing. Her chest began to ache and she began to panic. Desperate, she fought her muscles, screaming at her legs to scissor kick her up. She felt a response but it wasn't what she expected, she didn't seem to be able to move her legs apart. It was as if they were fusing together. The need for air was too great, she couldn't hold on much longer, she automatically tried to breathe and coughed on a mouthful of water, but only more came in.  
_Fuck, I'm going to drown._  
Her brain barely registered the stinging sensation on her chest or the bubbles that caught the moonlight, twinkling like underwater stars. It was too preoccupied with the need to breathe. But now it wasn't, because she didn't need to breathe anymore, she was already breathing.  
She was at least a few feet below the surface of the water and she was breathing.  
_How is this possible? Oh. I'm dead aren't I? I've died and now I'm an aquatic ghost._  
But that couldn't be right, her legs still hurt her and she could still feel the water all around her. She didn't need to pinch herself to know that she was still alive.  
Again she tried to move her legs and found they only moved together, if she tried to move just one, the cramp got worse and she felt like it was tugging the other leg. Maybe rubbing them would help? She moved her hands down to her thighs. Strangely, even in the low light she could see them clearly, albeit in shades of blue.  
_This just gets weirder._  
She went to rub one leg and pulled away sharply, her skin felt rough. She touched it again, it was hot and felt like she really needed to exfoliate and moisturise. She ran her finger across her thigh and stopped when she got to the edge. She looked down, worried. If she'd been able to she would have let out a shriek.  
There was no gap between her legs.  
She frantically groped around her thighs, feeling her legs. Yes, she did have two of them, they just happened to be joined right now by a thin film of skin.  
_Oh. My. God. How did this happen? How do I un-happen it? I'll have to go to a hospital and they'll have to do surgery on me. Ohmygod. Ohmygod._  
She noted her feet weren't joined, though they didn't look quite right either and she was still wearing her underwear.  
How does that work? Just how far does this go?  
In a move that was bordering on an R rating she slipped her hands down the front of her nickers to find out.  
_Hmmm…feels normal._  
Assured her nether regions were as they should be and that the fusion began just below her crotch, she decided to try to get to shore and get some help.  
She eventually got in shallow enough to crawl out of the ocean, still bemused at the fact she had been able to breathe underwater. It was now dark save for the moon and she couldn't see anybody on the beach.  
_I'm going to have to crawl to someone's house._  
She was already so exhausted, the thought of dragging herself across the sand and then a road to get help almost made her cry.  
_What if I wait till morning? But what if that makes it worse? I need help now. How will they fix me?_  
She stared down at the mess her legs were and a choking sob escaped her throat. For the first time she noticed the cuts on her collar bones, they leaked black liquid. She assumed it was blood, it was hard to tell in the dark. She remembered the bubbles that appeared to come from them.  
_Does that make them…gills?_  
She started crying then, the hot tears tumbled down her cheek and into the ocean.  
_I'm a freak. They're going to study me for science; I'll end up in my own text book._  
Verity sat, quietly sobbing for a few minutes, till she became aware of the subsiding pain in her legs. The ocean receded around her, the water being drawn back into a wave. It left Verity's legs exposed, causing her to gasp.  
She had two wholly separate legs again. She touched them just to make sure, moved them independently. She stood up, shaking and unsteady, but on her feet all the same. Unable to make any sense of what happened she staggered to her clothes, threw them on and headed for home.  
_I'm crazy. I just hallucinated. There's no way that was real.  
_She shivered, and not from the cold.  
_There's no way. _

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_Long chapter! What do you think? What could be improved? What do you think of Rhys?_

Stay excellent! 3 Rose


	4. Chapter 4

Here's to you RaeDawnxx for being this story's biggest fan. Also super thumbs up to BubbleGirl26 and x Stardustmixedwithfairydust x for subscribing.

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The morning light shone through the gap in the curtains. Verity dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. She hopped in the shower and began to wash herself. She stopped dead when she saw the two red scars along her collar bones.  
It was real, last night was real.  
She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself down. She stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. Then she caught her reflection in the mirror and almost screamed at what she saw.  
Her eyes were bright blue.  
"What the fuck?!" she gasped.  
She looked at herself in horror. She blinked a few times and even poked one of her eyeballs, but they stayed the same, there was nothing in them. They were just blue, vivid blue, unnatural blue. In fact she'd only ever seen one other person with eyes that colour. -Rhys.  
"Oh my god."  
_How do I explain this?_  
Vitamin deficiency? fatal disease?  
Crazy lenses! It's the only way. Maybe her mother wouldn't notice?  
She ran back to her room and threw on a green dress and brushed her long auburn hair before jogging down the stairs into the kitchen. She grabbed some toast and headed for the door, nearly smacking into her mum in the process.  
"Verity! slow down. My goodness, where did you get those?" she gasped, staring at her eyes.  
"Costume shop." Verity offered.  
"Those cheap ones are bad for your eyes!" she scolded  
"These are good quality ones. Bye mum." Verity said and made a break for the door.

Algebra was boring at the best of times; today it took longer than it took one of those gypsy brides to squish their huge meringue dress down the aisle. Finally the bell ran and Verity jumped up out of her chair with the other students, eager to get far away from x and y. She was so focused on weaving through the rows of tables and chairs as quickly as possible, she didn't have time to stop when someone fell over right in her path. She tried to stop and not step on them at the same time. The result was her tripping over them and face planting it down the aisle.  
_Son of a bitch._  
"I'm sorry." she said and she crawled onto her knees.  
"No please, that was my fault you fell. I'm the one who should be saying sorry."  
Verity knew that voice, she looked up to find herself staring into vivid blue eyes. They widened when they recognised her.  
"Your eyes." said Rhys, bewildered.  
"Um, they're contacts." Verity panicked. "Do they look good?"  
Rhys frowned. "Yeah, sure. They're cool."  
"Well, I'm going to be late for my next class, so I'll see you around." she scooped up her books and headed for the door.  
"Yeah. sorry about tripping you like that, I'm uncoordinated remember." Rhys called out to her.

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The sun seemed overwhelmingly hot and by the end of lunch time Verity was ready to splash water all over herself.  
"Aren't you hot?" she asked Mari.  
Mari gave her a funny look. "No, it's not even warm today." she held her hand to Verity's head. "You're burning up. You should go home."  
Well that would explain why she felt so uncomfortable. Her skin felt like it was rippling and her legs ached really badly.  
Verity bundled her books into her bag ready to go to the sick room and get permission to leave. She walked to the admin block and the woman at the reception rang her mother and gave her the okay to go.  
As she walked down the hallway her eyes caught sight of the fountain. The beautiful tantalising water glistened in the sunlight as it fell like rain into the pool below. Verity was overcome with a passionate yearning to get closer. It was drawing her to it. She craved the water and it was a thirst she'd never known before. She had tunnel vision as she approached. She discarded her bag and slipped off her shoes.  
The lure was impossible to resist. She climbed the side and fell to her knees in the water. She moaned as it instantly soothed her, extinguishing the fiery heat that had been burning all day.  
But no sooner had she sat down, then her legs cramped up and a membrane of skin rose from her feet upwards, fusing her legs together. And it wasn't just skin this time, it was thick tissue. Verity gave quiet shriek as her skin began to take on a scaly appearance.  
And all this was happening in public. Any second someone was going to come out and see her there. What would they do?  
She had to run, had to hide, but she couldn't. She was stuck. Tears started leaking from her eyes. Terror began spreading through her body. She tensed when she saw someone come round the corner. It was Rhys. He saw her and froze. Then he jogged over to her.  
_Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck._  
She tried to tuck her legs up under her as much as possible.  
"Verity. We should get you out of there before someone sees." his voice sounded concerned, but strangely panicked.  
"Um…I…I think I might just chill here for a bit."  
_Please go away._  
"Oh." Rhys bit his lower lip. "Um…shit. We could just wait it out."  
"What? What are waiting for?" she said nervously. He spoke like he knew. She checked to make sure her dress was pulled down enough to cover herself. -It was.  
"For you to turn back. If anyone comes I'll create a diversion."  
"Turn back?" she prompted, wanting to know if he did in fact know.  
"Yeah, don't panic, you'll be back to normal in a minute. In the meantime I might have to distract Mr Neilson over there." he said and turned his back on her to watch a grumpy looking old teacher who had just spotted them from the door of the admin building.  
_How did he know about my legs?!  
_There was no time to linger on it, a jolt of pain ran through her legs and they split apart again. Verity jumped up with a splash and just about fell out of the pool in her haste. Rhys turned around at the sound just in time to see her grab her bag and shoes.  
"Run!" she hissed and bolted in the other direction.  
She looked back to see if he was following her, he was.  
"Verity wait!" he called when they were over the other side of the campus.  
She ignored him and kept running. She didn't want to talk to him. She kept going till she couldn't see him behind her and then she walked the rest of the way home. She wanted to lock herself in her room and never come out.

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There we go. Hope you liked that.  
Sorry for the delay, I've been preoccupied with my book.

Please comment, I love getting comments so much.  
Good or bad it doesn't matter. Constructive criticism is a very useful and necessary part of writing.

* STAY GOLDEN! *  
xoxox -Rose


	5. Chapter 5

Hello, This is looking like it will be my last chapter due to lack of interest. I didn't receive a single comment on the last chapter and if no one is reading this story there is no point continuing.

If you do want this to continue, you need to let me know!

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Verity let herself into the house, there were still several hours before her mother and Brent would get home. She dumped her bag in her room, but she didn't want to sit down. She wandered restlessly around the house, an uneasy feeling spread throughout her. Verity craved the ocean, she wanted to drown in its icy depths. She changed into her bathers and walked to the beach. It was awesome being so close to the water. She loved swimming more than anything. She couldn't help but remember what happened last time she went for a swim or what happened in the fountain. It sent a shiver up her spine.

She waded into the cool water, the foamy surf rolling around her waist. She dived in and kicked down, going deeper into the colder, darker water. It was clearer down here, where the surf wasn't kicking up the bottom. It was so strange that she could see so well, it always used to be blurry. She realised her chest had yet to start hurting and looked down to find the cuts near her neck were open and moving.  
_I do have gills. I am a fish._  
Did that mean what happened last night would happen again? She'd barely finished the thought when her legs cramped up and she couldn't move them.  
_Really? Again? Fuck my life._  
But this wasn't like before, her legs didn't just feel stuck to each other, they felt like they were joining together, becoming one. Verity frantically felt them, but there wasn't just a membrane of skin between them. Now she couldn't differentiate them as being separate at all. All she met was scaly skin all the way around. She couldn't feel her knees or any other bones, and it was spreading upwards, engulfing all of her legs.  
_Oh god, I've got to get my bikini off!_  
She pulled the tie strings on each side and pulled the fabric through the shrinking gap between her legs. As soon as it was free her thighs meshed together with a jerk and the scales crept up to her navel. The pain vanished and Verity could finally stop and assess the situation. She dared look down again and quickly covered her face with her hands.  
_I have a tail._  
A solid fish-like tail with silvery flesh coloured opaque scales. Her feet had splayed out into long fin-like flippers that were almost like wings on a butterfly.  
_I'm a mermaid._  
She tried to move her bottom half and it wriggled. It was sort of like moving her legs, just more fluid. She tied her bather bottom around her wrist, she would need that later, she hoped.

Verity beat her tail down and up, testing strokes. She was fast; it was like wearing dive flippers. Once she calmed down and got over her panic it was surprisingly fun.  
After swirling around the water for while she broke the surface. Unlike last time, she still hadn't returned to normal. She thought if she left the water it might encourage her body to shift, but there were people everywhere and she had a tail. Even if she did shift, she would be half naked. Verity sighed and swam over to a row of rocks. She folded her arms on one and rested her head on them. Was she really going to have to wait till nightfall?  
_Wait! Am I even going to change back? What if it's permanent and the other times were just test runs. What if I'm stuck like this?_  
Verity was tired of this. Why couldn't she be normal? It was all too much for her to handle. A single tear trickled down her cheek.  
"I thought I might find you here." a smooth voice said.  
"RHYS!" Verity gasped, jerking her head up. He was crouched down on one of the nearby rocks. He'd walked from the shore across them to get to her. He was dressed only in board shorts, his bare chest and taut abs were hard to miss, the sun shone off his tanned skin.  
_Oh dear god no. He can't see me like this. Why won't he leave me alone? _  
"I wanted to see how you were after today." he said sweetly.  
"I'm fine." she flashed him a fake smile and quickly checked to make sure her gills were hidden below the water.  
"Will you come up here and have a chat?" he asked.  
That was definitely not an option.  
"I'm happy in the water."  
Rhys frowned. "You don't look happy. You look like you've been crying."  
Verity could feel her eyes welling up again.  
"Then maybe you should just let a girl cry in peace. Okay?!" she snapped.  
She didn't mean to be rude, she really liked Rhys, she just wanted him to leave her alone.  
He didn't look offended, he just looked worried. "Are you scared Verity? Is that it? I know it's frightening, but you don't need to be afraid."  
What the hell was he talking about? He wasn't going to leave, so she started to edge along the rocks away from him. When he saw what she was doing he stood up and dived off the rock into the water. He surfaced next to her and threw his shorts onto the rocks.  
"Jesus! What are you doing?!" she cried.  
Now was not an appropriate time to go skinny dipping, the thought of which, would make her nervous even if she didn't have a fish tail where her legs should be.  
"I just want to talk to you!" his forehead creased, he sounded irritated.  
"And you have to do that without pants?" she gasped.  
Rhys smiled and reached for her wrist, showing her he'd seen her bather bottoms. "Do _you_ have to do it without pants?"  
Panic started to course through her veins, she had to get away before her saw her tail. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and turned to swim away. Before she'd even swum a metre Rhys popped up in her path.  
"Stop running from me. I won't hurt you." he said.  
How had he gotten in front of her so quickly? Her eyes darted around looking for an escape route.  
"FUCK OFF! Leave me alone." she spat.  
He'd never talk to her again, but being a bitch was the only way to make him go away. Rhys looked hurt, but then he must have seen through her ruse, seen the terror in her eyes. Instead of going away, he moved closer.  
"You're absolutely petrified." he said quietly, his face was mournful. "Why are you afraid of me?"  
"I'm not. Just… please go." she sobbed, her eyes betrayed her and tears tumbled down her checks.  
Verity backed into the rocks, her hands dug into the slimy seaweed growing on it. She looked away from him and clamped her eyes shut.  
_Please just leave. Please just leave._  
Instead he grabbed her hand. "Don't cry Verity, having a tail is fun." A look of realisation registered on Rhys's face. "You don't know that I'm Piscean do you?"  
She stared at him from under her lashes, completely ashamed.  
"Well no wonder you're scared of me, you thought I'd tell on you when I found out. Look under the water Verity." he smiled.  
She eyed him warily, if this was some plot to make her look at his junk she would smack him so hard. She was worried about what she would see, but she put her face to the surface of the water anyway. She could see her own shiny silvery-flesh coloured tail beneath her and was shocked to see Rhys was sporting one just like it.  
"Mother of holy! Fuck!" she gasped, pulling her head out of the water. "Why do we have tails?!"  
"We're Piscean." he informed her, greatly amused at her reaction.  
"I thought I was a mermaid."  
He laughed. "We prefer the term Piscean."  
"How did you know about my tail?" she asked.  
"Because your eyes turned blue, it's the main sign of shifting. When I saw you in the water I knew you must have your tail. But then you wouldn't get out, so I'm guessing this is your first full transformation."  
"Yes, will it go away?"  
He gave her hand a squeeze. "Of course! Were you worried it wouldn't? Is that why you were crying?"  
Verity nodded.  
"The first time you just have to wait for your tail to change back by itself. After that you'll be able to shift at will, but it takes some practise. You had no idea what was happening to you, did you?"  
Verity shook her head.  
"That's awful, why didn't your parents tell you?" he asked.  
"You mean they know about this?"  
"Well, Piscean's have either two Piscean parents or one Piscean and one half-breed parent. Do your parents visit the ocean several times a week?"  
"I live with my mum and step-dad. Mum rarely goes near the beach."  
"She must be a half-breed then, they can't shift. You have to have ¾ Piscean blood to do that. Which means your dad must be Piscean."  
"I don't know who my dad is."  
"That sucks." Rhys sighed. "Any way you can talk to your Piscean grandparent?"  
"Mum had me when she was sixteen, she ran away from home when she found out she was pregnant. Apparently her dad would have disowned her, though I wouldn't take her word for it. She probably just wanted to get out of the country. They moved out there after my grandmother died, before that they lived by the sea, so she must have been the Piscean." Verity explained.  
"Not good for finding family." he said sadly.

Verity swore under her breath as her tail split and her legs morphed back into shape. She realised she'd been crushing Rhys's hand and released it.  
"Sorry." she turned away and untied her bather bottom and put it back on.  
"Don't be. It's painful the first few times. I'll give you a lift into shore." He grabbed his shorts in one hand and her arm in the other and towed her into the shallows. He stopped a little way back to shift and get dressed. Verity climbed to her feet, but they slipped right out from under her. Her legs felt like jelly.  
"You'll get used to that too." Rhys said, coming up beside her. He bent over and slipped his arms under her, scooping her up and carrying her out of the sea. "Your body takes a while to adjust to all the changes." he added, noticing she was trembling.  
That had to be one of the adjustments, because she wasn't cold. Her arms were looped around Rhys's neck and she was pressed into his warm, hard chest.  
"I was thinking." he said suddenly. "You should come over to my place and talk to my parents. They're both Piscean and could answer any questions you have better than I can. Not that I don't want you to talk to me, I'd like that very much. I just want you to have other people like us to talk to. I don't want you to feel alone, I like you too much to see you suffer." he finished, quietly, not looking at her.  
_Just how much does he like me?_  
Rhys wasn't typically good looking, but those eyes really lit up his face, she liked the way he looked, and he was gorgeous on this inside. He was special, she knew that much. She wouldn't be averse to spending more time with him. In fact that sounded really nice.  
"I'd like to meet your parents." she told him.  
"Great."  
"And I'd like to talk to you, a lot." she dared to say.  
"That's even better." he smiled.

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Comments are appreciated. Good or bad, feedback is critical to improving writing!


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